A buffer, by definition, is a solution that resist change in pH. In a buffered solution, adding acid will only result in a small decrease in pH whereas adding the same volume and concentration of acid to a non-buffered solution will cause a much larger change in pH.

Each element in a chemical equation has an oxidation state, and you will have to assign these oxidation states to each element in order to determine the correct redox reaction stoichiometry. These states can be fairly easily determined just by looking at the periodic table.

While meeting with students in beginner level CSCI courses I have noticed a fairly common theme, many students are just typing code into a file with little to no organization. By the end of the project their code is so messy that the flow is almost impossible to follow. Because of this I have put together a simple set of rules for keeping your functions ordered.

Computer science is a complex subject that requires a thorough understanding of concepts. It doesn’t matter how smart or prepared you think you are, there is going to be a point in your career where you stare at your screen and think “what the heck is going on here?”.

Elimination reactions are helpful in many situations, especially in synthesis when you have an alkane and need an alkene. Similar to substitution reactions, eliminations produce similar products but depend on different factors. Most notably, E1 reactions have a carbocation intermediate while E2 reactions do not (for more information on E1 reactions, see “SN1/E1 Reactions”).

SN1 and E1 Reactions have very similar mechanisms, the final result just depends on whether the nucleophile or the base is attacks first. Compared to second order SN2 and E2 reactions (see “SN2 Reactions” and “E2 Reactions”), SN1/E1 are first order, the rate of the reaction depends only on the substrate.

Graphs in computer science are different than what most people consider a graph to be. Graphs are a data type consisting of connected nodes (much like a linked list), only, with graphs, nodes have no limit to how many connections to other nodes they have.

First of all, we need to know the Rate Determining Step (RDS) to write the rate law. Note that this is the slow step, as the part of the overall mechanism that proceeds the slowest will ultimately determine the overall rate of the reaction.

Write down every variable you know, and every variable you don’t know / want to find. Sometimes known variables are super obvious (e.g. if a ball is launched horizontally, then you know that its starting y-velocity, v_y0 = 0)